WASHINGTON, DC -- Today a federal judge found that an employment
discrimination lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union on behalf
of a transgender veteran against the Library of Congress can go forward.

"I couldn't understand how the country that I had risked my life for could
believe that it was ok to rescind its job offer to me solely because I'm
transgender," said Diane Schroer, a 25-year veteran of the U.S. Army.
"Today's decision begins to restore my faith in our government."

Finding that sex may not be "a cut-and-dried matter of chromosomes," the
court ruled that federal protections against sex discrimination may also protect
transgender people who are discriminated against based on their gender
identity. In rejecting the government's argument that discrimination
against transgender people is not sex discrimination, the court noted "the
factual complexities that underlie human sexual identity. These
complexities stem from real variations in how the different components of
biological sexuality -- chromosomal, gonadal, hormonal, and neurological --
interact with each other, and in turn, with social, psychological, and legal
conceptions of gender."

The court held that given these complexities, it may be that federal law
prohibits discrimination against transgender people because it is a form of sex
discrimination, pure and simple. The court will rule on that question in
the case after evidence about the nature of gender and gender identity is
developed.

"Today the court sent a very clear message to employers everywhere that
transgender discrimination won't be tolerated in the workplace," said Sharon
McGowan, a staff attorney with the ACLU's Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender
Project.

The ACLU filed the lawsuit against the Library of Congress on June 2,
2005. After retiring from the military, Schroer, who had been
hand-picked to head up a classified national security operation while serving as
an Airborne Ranger qualified Special Forces officer, applied for a position with
the Library of Congress as the senior terrorism research analyst. Soon
thereafter she was offered the job, which she accepted immediately. Prior
to starting work, Schroer took her future boss to lunch to explain that she was
in the process of transitioning and thought it would be easier for everyone if
she simply started work presenting as female. The following day, Schroer
received a call from her future boss rescinding the offer, telling her that she
wasn't a "good fit" for the Library of Congress.

The lawsuit charges that the Library of Congress unlawfully refused to hire
Schroer in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which protects
against sex discrimination in the workplace. The Library of Congress moved
to dismiss the case claiming that transgender people are not covered under Title
VII. Today the court rejected those claims and the case will now proceed
to trial